Our industry specialises in facilitating meaningful connections, but the time and effort spent getting to this point is one of our greatest obstacles and barriers to entry, says Adam Jones, CEO & CPO, FFAIR:
The Covid-19 lockdowns forced businesses to automate and digitise. In our working lives, this meant getting used to new online workflow systems, while as consumers, it meant receiving full grocery shops on our doorsteps in under ten minutes.
We rarely dwell on the efficiencies that companies obsess over to create these seamless products and services, but the net result is that our need for novelty has increased, and our tolerance for laborious processes has decreased. Businesses that accept this premise and embrace their role in making everyone’s lives simpler are reaping the rewards, but the exhibition industry is still finding its way.
As the world emerges from Covid 19 restrictions, the desire to meet again face-to-face has never been more urgent, but to remain synced with peoples’ expectations, organisers need to consider which real-world obstacles make exhibitors hesitant about rebooking, and what processes – from procurement to staffing – can be automated.
Viewing exhibitions as ‘another platform’ which happens to facilitate in-person experiences might be a reality check for some, but our shared goal should be creating truly plug-and-play events.
Getting a person into an exhibition hall with the fewest clicks, phone calls, forms or faff will help create an event economy where exhibitions can pop-up with more spontaneity, creativity and efficiency. We must automate to make the most powerful platform of all, face-to-face, truly seamless
Oh, and you’ll save time, effort and money in the process.
FFAIR is an online platform that puts all the laborious forms required for exhibitors into one simple platform (Taskd) to save chasing multiple parties. It also provides an online marketplace (Vendr) for everything exhibitor related.
